


Don't Let it Make You Cry

by amine



Series: Gen X and Gen Z [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Temporary Amnesia, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 17:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16269041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amine/pseuds/amine
Summary: "'And who areyou?'Peter recoiled, stunned by the harsh unfamiliarity of those words. God, did that hurt. He was so used to being greeted with a warm 'hey, kid!' and an arm around his shoulders that tears nearly sprung to his eyes at seeing and hearing for himself that Tony really did not remember them."





	Don't Let it Make You Cry

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to "Remember Me" from Coco and this happened, ha ha.

Between classes, all the additional reading he had to do, and working as a TA on top of meeting new people and establishing contacts, as well as trying to be Spider-Man on the side, Peter was starting to second guess his decision to get a PhD in physics. Tony had joked that he wouldn’t let Peter take over Stark Industries if he didn’t get a PhD, but Peter knew that he could just as easily go work for Tony, or anyone else for that matter, with just his bachelor’s. After all, Tony didn’t have a graduate degree and he was the pinnacle of success.

Still, because he was the type, he wanted to prove himself. He was only a couple of months in, which was far too early to be throwing in the towel, even if there were days when he just wanted to move back to Queens and let May and the Starks and his other friends console him that it was okay.

Bent over a scientific journal with an array of highlighters at his side, Peter breathed a sigh of relief when his phone rang. He grinned when he saw that it was Morgan calling, eager to spend some time chatting with his “little sister” to take his mind off his work for a little while.

“Hey, MoMo, what’s up?”

He waited for her to demand to know when he was coming home (“not until Christmas, MoMo”) or squeal in excitement about her recent attempts to build a bot of her own.

Instead, she started wailing loud enough that he had to pull the phone away from his ear. “Petey! You have to save Daddy!”

When the wailing decreased in volume, Peter cautiously put his phone back to his ear. “Morgan? What’s wrong?”

She babbled something incoherent about needing Spider-Man to save her daddy but it was all a jumble behind her wailing and he couldn’t make sense of it. As he tried to get her to stop crying enough to explain what was going on, the crying suddenly became muted and a much calmer voice came on the line.

“Peter?”

Pepper. Thank goodness.

“Ms. Potts? What happened to Mr. Stark? Is he okay?”

For what felt like several excruciating moments, the only sound was Morgan crying and calling out for both Tony and Peter. Finally, Pepper took a deep breath and responded.

“There was some maniac attacking Manhattan and Tony decided to take Iron Man out of retirement. He stopped the man, but he suffered a head injury when he did.”

Peter’s blood ran cold and he leaned back in his chair. “He’s not…”

“He’s fine, physically. He’s up and about in the medbay here at the compound, but...” She paused, taking a deep breath. Peter heard the shudder in it and braced himself. “He doesn’t remember anything except who he is. He doesn’t even remember Rhodes.”

Her voice broke at the end, and Peter could imagine her trying to keep it together in front of Morgan and clapping her hand over her mouth to muffle her sob. Peter was already standing and grabbing his coat.

“Ms. Potts, can you send a quinjet? I’ve...I’ve got to come back.”

Pepper let out a soft laugh, though Peter could hear the strain behind it. “If I’m not mistaken, Morgan may have already sent one your way.”

Under any other circumstances, Peter would have found it amusing how Morgan would take advantage of how intuitive Tony had made the quinjets to send one out because she wanted her big brother to come home and visit her, but now he was just grateful that Tony hadn’t overridden her access to them as he ran outside.

* * *

Despite warning after warning from Happy and Rhodey, Peter was determined to see Tony’s condition for himself. It took him a bit to pry Morgan off his legs as she clung to him and begged him to turn into Spider-Man and save Tony. If Tony didn’t even remember Rhodey, there was no way he was going to remember Spider-Man.

Pepper had mentioned that Tony had fallen back into the habit of trying to flirt and be his old playboy self with her, and that concerned him. He’d never known playboy Tony. Tony and Pepper were already deeply committed to each other by the time he’d entered Tony’s life. He also knew that Tony didn’t necessarily discriminate between women and men, but the thought of the man who was basically his father hitting on him made him internally gag.

It turned out that he had no need to worry about that, because when he entered Tony’s room, Tony turned and looked at him with the most disinterest he’d ever seen on Tony’s face. It was disarming, as were the words that followed.

“And who are _you_?” 

Peter recoiled, stunned by the harsh unfamiliarity of those words. God, did that hurt. He was so used to being greeted with a warm “hey, kid!” and an arm around his shoulders that tears nearly sprung to his eyes at seeing and hearing for himself that Tony really did not remember them.

“I’m Peter Parker, Mr. Stark.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed at him, and he swept an analytical gaze over him before nodding.

“Okay, so at least you’re not another kid of mine I don’t remember.”

If Tony not remembering him was a punch to the gut, those words were more like a knife in his heart. 

_I_ am _your kid, though. You started as my mentor but became more like my father the longer we knew each other. You cried at my graduation a few months ago and told me that I’m as much a part of your family as Pepper or Morgan._

His lip quivered, but he bit down on it to stop it before Tony could see. Instead, he gave a lopsided smile and a shrug.

“You were told that you’re Iron Man, right? Well, I’m Spider-Man, Mr. Stark. You’ve made me all of my suits so I can be almost as great a hero as you are.”

Tony nodded and a small smirk appeared on his face. “That _does_ sound like me. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. You mind if I take a look? Gotta admire my handiwork sometimes.”

Peter smiled in return, but it was forced. Tony might jokingly be arrogant around him sometimes, but it was understood that it was all for show. They were close enough that Tony didn’t try to hide that he wasn’t always as strong and put together as he appeared to be in public.

This arrogant, unfamiliar Tony was so unlike the Tony that he’d come to love as his surrogate father that he was having a hard time keeping his tears at bay.

He now understood Morgan’s hysterical crying. He wished he was a five-year-old, too, and not a grown adult and could break down without anyone judging him. Then maybe he’d be the one clinging to Tony’s legs, crying about him forgetting the people who loved him most. 

Instead, he continued to smile. “Sure, Mr. Stark. I don’t have a suit with me, but I bet there’s one in the lab you were working on.”

Tony nodded thoughtfully, running a hand over his chin and mumbling to himself. As he paced, he looked up and narrowed his eyes at Peter again. “Is that it then?”

Another knife in the heart. Peter faltered, finding it nearly impossible to keep from sobbing. Again, he smiled through it, and he took a few steps back towards the door with a small wave. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Stark.”

“Good of you to come by and let me know, Parker.”

Parker. He’d only ever been referred to that way when Peter Quill was around, or when Tony sarcastically called him “Mr. Parker” to make fun of how he’d never stopped calling him Mr. Stark. He was kid or Pete or any number of sarcastic names. 

He continued towards the door, where he lingered to give Tony one last look.

“I’ll see you later...Dad.”

That last word made Tony freeze and suck in a breath. Something flashed in Tony’s eyes then, and he staggered as he clutched at his head. Their eyes met for a moment, and Peter’s heart raced at the traces of warmth and familiarity he saw in Tony’s startled gaze.

“Kid—”

Before he could continue whatever he was about to say or do, he abruptly passed out, and Peter only just caught him in time before he hit the floor.

* * *

Pepper had told him to go back to school and that he’d get a call if anything changed, but Peter couldn’t concentrate on anything. He’d been staring at the same sentence of the same article for over an hour, and the words were just a mess of black ink on the page.

Tony was in a coma, and it was his fault. If he hadn’t said anything, Tony would have gotten his memory back on his own time, rather than be overwhelmed all at once. Everyone would still be worried, but at least they wouldn’t have the fear that Tony might never wake up.

He was too old to be crying, but that didn’t stop the tears from staining the article he was looking at. It would have been better to have a Tony who didn’t remember anything than no Tony at all.

If he’d been having trouble balancing his work before, it was nearly impossible with his thoughts constantly going back to how he should have just left Tony without saying anything. 

When his phone rang and he saw that it was Morgan again, his heart jackhammered in his chest as he picked it up. “Morgan?”

“Petey!” 

She was wailing again, and Peter felt like the world had collapsed under his feet and he was falling into nothingness. Something must have happened. Tony must have—

“Daddy woke up and he remembers, Petey!”

The world came back, but that didn’t stop him from collapsing onto the floor. He hadn’t even been aware that he’d stood up. He scrambled to his feet and clutched at his desk. As he struggled to find words or to even _breathe_ , Morgan sniffled and spoke with more clarity as she implored him to come home.

“Daddy wants to see you, Petey!”

He pulled his coat on so quickly he ripped it to shreds.

* * *

Peter had to swear to Pepper that he wouldn’t overstimulate Tony again, but he honestly would be happy to just quietly sit in the same room as Tony so long as he was awake and okay.

He was greeted with a bleary-eyed and bedridden—but awake!—Tony, whose eyes softened with affection when he spotted Peter lingering in the doorway.

“Hey, kid.”

Peter hesitated, not wanting to do anything that would put Tony back into a coma, but he wanted so badly to fling himself across the room and collapse on top of Tony. His hesitation must have shown, because Tony frowned.

“You just gonna stand there, kid? You’re not going to make this old man get up just for you, are you?”

Peter let out a sob, and he crossed the room to grab Tony’s hand, only just barely resisting that urge to collapse on him instead.

“Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry. I should have watched what I said since you couldn’t remember anything. If I hadn’t said anything you wouldn’t have—”

He was babbling almost as much as Morgan and Tony waved his free hand.

“Whoa, whoa, Pete, stop! What do you think you have to be sorry about? My kid finally called me ‘dad’!”

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t—”

“Seriously, stop. You’re too old for that much blubbering.”

Peter bit his lip, but that didn’t stop the urge to apologize. Tony seemed to notice, because he sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Kid, what did I tell you? You’re my family now. Turns out you’re my hero, too.” Tony paused as Peter let out a short laugh, and he smiled. “And not just Spider-Man, even though he’s my favorite Avenger. Peter Parker is my hero.”

He tried to stop it, but Peter was definitely crying then. He waited to be chided again for being too old, but instead Tony sat up and held open his arms.

“C’mere, Pete. I can’t watch this anymore.”

With that invitation, Peter eagerly climbed into Tony’s arms and buried his face over Tony’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t remember, kid. You’re one of the last people I’d ever want to forget.”

Peter nodded rapidly, not wanting to speak through his tears, and he continued to cling to Tony long after his eyes were dry.


End file.
